A Measure of Wealth
by Razzmatazzy
Summary: Post AC, some Cloti. It's poker night and the gang is having some roaring fun! Features a drunken Yuffie, a mad Vincent, and a very flirty Tifa. Possibly the funniest thing I've ever written.


_(Author's Note: __I've been wanting to write this a long, long time! Possibly the funniest thing I've written yet and I had a LOT of fun doing it! I've also always wanted to write a one-shot involving some footsy and I think it turned out perfectly. __Also, a warning - if you're an American like me, there is underage drinking here. BUT if you're NOT American, then there is no underage drinking. Since American drinking age is 21, and the rest of the world is at least 18, I decided to go with the rest of the world. :P So, with that said, let's get to the story! If you like this, PLEASE comment! Enjoy!)_**  
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**A Measure Of Wealth**

Cloud surreptitiously wiped the sweat from his brow and willed himself to persevere, to hang on just a little longer. The battle had been long and excruciating, with fickle and cagey opponents, but at least the end was near. He had to be careful now. The smallest slip, the tiniest mistake, and he'd be doomed. All his dignity, all his cool reputation would go swirling down the drain before he could so much as blink. In this battle, there was no mercy, no rest for the wicked, and no tears for the damned. There was only one way of coming out unscathed: Win.

Cloud did his best to conceal his amazement as Cid made a move against him. Tricky bastard! Turn on him like that, would he? Well, Cloud Strife was not a man easily fooled. Unless it was him that was doing the fooling of himself, that is. After all, he _had_ made up a broken illusion of life that was just an amalgam of wishful thinking, a friend's stories and...

Nevermind. On with the story.

Affecting perfect and total calm, Cloud said, "I see your bet and raise you fifty," and tossed a fake poker chip into the pile in the center of the table. Ha! That should put Cid on his toes!

At that moment, Yuffie - totally drunk and wildly slap-happy - shouted, "Oh boy, you all in trouble now!" Wearing a truly wicked grin, she gleefully tossed more confetti and tiny paper streamers into Cloud's spiky hair who ignored her and blandly sipped his beer.

"You're call," he said to Tifa.

The dark-haired woman sat across from him at the makeshift poker table, and her dark eyes gleamed mischievously. His heart did an odd little skip when she smiled like that, slow and seductively. "Fifty," she purred, and her own chip into the growing pile.

He suppressed a knowing smirk. Just like Tifa - upping the ante and distracting him at the same time. He'd have to keep an eye on her. That bartender knew more than her fair share about poker.

All eyes turned to Barret. The big man sighed, puffing out his cheeks. "Ah fold," he said, slapping his cards down on the table. That left just Cid, Tifa, and Cloud. The three opponents eyed each other warily.

What kind of depraved idjit, Cloud suddenly thought, would think that a vicious, back-stabbing game of poker would be perfect for hanging out with friends and relaxing? He couldn't remember if it was Cid or Tifa that had suggested the idea of poker night at the bar after hours. Nonetheless, it had quickly become tradition for the companions to meet at the bar once a month and spend the majority of the night at a harrowing game of poker. At first, he'd just gone along with it, but after a while, he'd begun to actually enjoy it, if only because it meant he didn't have to drink alone and could truly allow himself to unwind after a long month.

Yuffie was getting on his nerves though. She'd had entirely too much to drink and was going off like a wild cannon. After she'd put dozens of tiny braids in Red's mane - who was currently engaged in a game of chess with Marlene - she'd started singing drunkenly and off-key while pestering the various card players.

First, she'd given Barret a long and loud lecture on his fashion choices. Then she'd braided, unbraided, then re-braided Tifa's hair. The braid was so sloppy, it didn't hold very well and just fell out again. Next, she absconded with Reeve's sunglasses and tried to wear them though they were much too big for her and kept slipping off one ear. There was a brief scuffle as she'd tried to get a cigarette from Cid, who fiercely defended his smokes with a fiery passion he usually reserved for wine, women and airships, not necessarily in that order. Yuffie got one anyway and proceeded to tear apart, just to see what was inside, which did not improve a very disgruntled Cid's disposition.

Now, it was Cloud's turn for her attention. Somehow, she'd found or brought along a bag of confetti and holiday poppers, the kind sold for New Years celebrations. She'd spent the last ten minutes decorating his hair with tiny crepe streamers and glittery confetti, daffily humming and providing the occasional nonsensical commentary to the game.

Brushing some confetti of his shoulder, which made Yuffie squeak in outrage, Cloud asked for another card. Tifa slid it across the table to him, but didn't lift her fingers off of it right away, so their fingertips touched on the card. For that brief moment, he swore he felt a spark pass between them, and, glancing up in surprise, he caught Tifa's suggestive wink. He felt himself blush and immediately dropped his eyes down to his cards again. Dammit! She was distracting him, trying to throw him off his game and was doing a damn good job of it too!

Stay strong, Strife! he sternly lectured himself. Don't give in to her siren call!

Even with that stout mental encouragement, he had to take a few deep breathes to clear his mind. Tifa kept drawing his gaze to her, as if she were a magnet and his eyes made of iron. Stubbornly, summoning a great deal of willpower, he focused on the cards. It took a moment for him to realize that the new card he held was a measly four of hearts. Great. With his other cards, that meant he had absolutely jack-shit. Oh well. At least the others didn't know that.

"Know what would be really awesome?" Yuffie slurred as she tied a crepe streamer around a lock of Cloud's hair into a little bow. "Materia that would change yer *hic* hair a different color. I mean, why can't materia have some cosmetic use, right? Sheesh. Weird Ancients. Probably prudes, back then."

She was rambling and no one really paid attention to her but Denzel, who had a huge crush on the slim ninja. From where he sat watching the game between Marlene and Red, he stared at her with wide eyes and absently nodded in agreement. "Yeah," he said, almost inaudible.

"I mean *hic* materia don' alway have to be 'bout fighting, righ'?" Yuffie nodded once, firmly, and agreed with herself. "Dammit, Cloud, stop *hic* moving!"

"Alright," Cloud said, and continued to sit perfectly still. Suddenly, his view of the world tilted as Yuffie pushed his head forward so she could tie a tiny streamer around a particular spiky lock of hair. "You're turn, Cid," Cloud said. With his chin pressed against his chest, his voice was a little muffled, and the sound of it made Yuffie giggle. He made a mental note to never let her drink so much again. It took very little to get the Wutai ninja very drunk, thus why no one suspected her deteriorating sobriety until it was too late, because of how little alcohol she had actually consumed.

"Raise one hundred," Cid drawled in his heavy accent. Rolling his cigarette to the other side of his mouth, he gave Cloud a shit-eating grin. Damn. He hated it when Cid grinned like that. It always made him want to grab a weapon and put his back to the wall. Trouble _always_ lurked nearby when that grin appeared.

Cloud did his best to return the look with a piercing glare of his own. Unfortunately, this wasn't as effective as he hoped, with Yuffie pushing his head forward and colorful crepe streamers hanging in his eyes. From the corner of his eye, he saw Tifa bite her lower lip to keep from laughing.

Finally, Yuffie let go of his head and he straightened up. He swept the players with a piercing glare, daring them to laugh, warning them not to. Reeve suddenly became very interested in his sleeves, Barret found a nonexistent peculiarity on his tattoo to study and Tifa found something interesting on the ceiling to stare at while covering her mouth with one hand. Cid just grinned, that blasted cigarette hanging from his lips.

"Raise one twenty-five," Cloud said defiantly, and added his chips. Automatically, he brushed some fine confetti squares off his nose and swept that quelling glare around once more, just to warn them he was watching.

"Fold," Tifa said, placing her cards on the table.

This was it. This was the final stretch, where ruin or glory awaited. Cloud and Cid locked glares for a long time.

"Yer bluffin'."

"Is that a bet?"

"You're damn right!" Cid slapped a hand on the table, making Tifa's carefully stacked pile of chips fall over. "I call!"

Damn. He'd lost. Cloud slapped his cards on the table the same time Cid did. Damn it to hell! How did the man have that much luck to get four aces?

Chuckling wickedly, Cid raked in the pile. Cloud crossed his arms and did his best not to sulk as Tifa stood, stretching. "Refills, anyone?" she asked. A hearty chorus of ayes soon had her back behind the bar, pouring more drinks and crafting an appletini for herself.

As soon as she was back at the table and drinks had been passed around, she started shuffling the cards. Cloud marveled at the way she handled them so effortlessly, folding and cutting the deck with the perfect grace and ease of long practice. Suddenly, he realized he'd been staring at her hands and the way they toyed with the edges of the cards and guiltily snapped his gaze back to her face.

Too late. She'd noticed him staring and knew what kind of effect she was having on him. Wearing a smug female smirk, glancing at him flirtatiously beneath her long eyelashes, Tifa dealt the cards.

Cloud knew this next game was going to be a bloodbath. Starting with him.

Trying to keep his cool, Cloud picked up his cards and stared at them without seeing.

Suddenly, he felt a pair of arms twine lovingly around his neck. His eyes snapped up and he saw Tifa sitting across from him, an incredulous grin spreading across her face.

"You know, Cloudy-toudy," Yuffie began. Alcohol fumes wafted across his face as Yuffie hugged him from behind and nestled her chin on his shoulder quite comfortably. "I onsh had, like, the bigesht crush on you. Ev-ar!"

Hot embarrassment flooded his cheeks. He jerked his shoulder a little, trying to get her off of him, but that only made her tighten her grip. The rest of the gang watched with wicked, gleeful grins. Unable to shake her off, he said, "Really?"

He felt her nod. "Uh-huh! I took pictures an' everything on mah bedroom wall for like, thelongesttimeever." She slurred the last few words.

"Looks like you got a real winner, there, Spiky," Barret said.

"She could do better," Reeve put in kindly.

"I think they're a cute couple," Tifa said, winking.

"You don't keep any materia in your pockets, do ya Cloud?" Cid asked, grinning. "Things might get a little 'R-rated' if she finds out ya do..."

Cloud glared at them and only through sheer force of will didn't throw his cards at each and every one of the lousy bastards that called themselves his 'friends.'

Yuffie seemed to be getting sleepy, obliviously cuddling up to Cloud as he desperately tried to shrug her off. "I even *hic* kept one ofa materia you thought you losht." Grinning, she ruffled his hair fondly, setting off a small shower of confetti.

"You don't... still think... that way, right?" Cloud couldn't help but ask. Quite honestly, she was starting to scare him and he wanted to know right now if this would be a problem later on. Oh dear god, he thought, how I am going to hide from a stalker who's also a ninja?

Yuffie abruptly stood up and shoved herself away. Her balance was no where near stable enough to support such an action and she fell on her butt next to the table. "Ew! No way!" She screwed her face up in disgust. "You're OLD."

Cid burst out laughing and slapped his thigh in mirth, with everyone else but Cloud joining in. He nearly sagged in his chair with relief. Though they were only five years apart in age, he was_ more _than willing to make that a terminating issue if she was.

"Sheesh, what's with you, Cloud?" Cid asked mockingly. "Just can't keep 'em off of ya, can you?"

"We got us a playa in the house," Barret said.

He gave them a look that could kill and threw away a card. "Give me a card," he snapped.

Chuckling, Tifa gave him one. Once again her fingers lingered on the card and, blast it, once again that incredibly distracting spark. He'd heard about chemistry between two people before but Tifa sure knew how to exploit it. Especially when it came to winning poker.

"Wouldn't that make him a pedophile?" Reeve asked innocently.

"Naw, she's legal!" Cid said.

"No."

"Sure as shit."

"Hot damn."

Cloud muttered dire curses under his breath and tried to hide his red face behind his cards. Quickly draining his beer, he crushed the can in one hand and chucked it at Cid's head.

At that moment, the door to the bar opened and a tall, glowering figure wearing a tattered red cape stepped inside. For a single moment, he was framed by the doorway, a dark, mysterious and intimidating figure.

"VINNIE!"

The jubilant whoop made everyone jump, including the usually implacable Vincent. Before anyone quite knew what was happening, Yuffie had tackled the tall gunman in an enthusiastic hug. Startled by the unexpected action - he didn't exactly belong to the "huggable appearance" category - he tried to shake her off.

She clung to him like a leech, yammering away a mile a minute, clinging to him as he stumbled in a circle, trying to get her off him. "Vinnie, ohmygosh I got the greatest ideas EV-ar and ohmygosh I wanna cut your hair I can make it look really good too, I been practicing on my friends and look, look!" Everyone was amazed that she could still hold on to Vincent with one arm as she pointed with the other. She thrust a weaving finger at Cloud, who was still dripping with confetti and streamers. "Cloud's look great, yeah? Lemme cut your hair please please please!"

"Get off me!" Vincent growled. Wedging an arm between them, he managed to pry her off. He didn't take a step before she latched onto him on the other side.

"OHMYGOSH, Vinnie, it's gonna look shooo cute!"

Almost as one, the card players tilted their heads, amused, as they watched Vincent trying to pry the clingy little ninja off of him. If Cloud didn't know better, he'd say Vincent almost seemed embarrassed by the attention.

"What the hell did she drink?" Cloud asked softly.

"I don't know," Tifa said, her voice tinged with awe. "But I think I should let her have it more often."

Silently, the others nodded in agreement, watching in fascinated amusement.

All at once, Yuffie let go of him and yammered something about being right back, then dashed away, up the stairs to the living area.

Vincent drew himself up to his full imposing height and glared at the group dangerously. "I demand an explanation."

The card players all swiftly exchanged glances, lips barely twitching. If they all laughed now, Vincent would never forgive them.

"Yuffie's drunk," Reeve finally said.

Red eyes narrowed. "Obviously. What _else_ has she been doing?"

"Nothing." Tifa grinned. Cloud could tell she was on the verge of bursting with laughter. "That's just how she is when she's drunk." Her voice was incredibly strained by the pressure of holding in the laughter. "Would you like a drink?" she nearly squeaked. Without waiting for an answer, she stood and strode to the bar, giggling madly.

Haughtily sitting down in a chair at the table, Vincent folded his arms across his chest and glowered at them. "If she touches my hair, I will shoot her. Others may be shot also. I'll play this by ear."

Everyone nodded and Cloud suddenly found he had to think of something sobering or else start laughing like an idiot. Casting about for something to focus on, his gaze landed on Tifa behind the bar. She rolled her eyes at him and brushed a hand through her hair, pushing her dark locks forward to hang over her face, and she glowered at him darkly. It was the most perfect imitation of Vincent he'd ever seen.

He grinned at her.

Holding up one finger, she straightened her hair and got a bottle of vodka out from under the bar, and began to delicately tip some of it into the open beer bottle she got out for Vincent. She rolled her eyes toward the stairs where Yuffie had gone and winked. Oh god. She was going to try and get them both drunk. The woman was an insane genius. No wonder he loved her.

Cloud chuckled.

"Hot damn, get the press!" Cid whooped, making Vincent jump for the second time that night. "Spiky just laughed! Let's hear it folks, come on!" Obediently, everyone but Vincent applauded with gusto.

"That's six weeks less winter!" Barret shouted over the clamor, and everyone burst out laughing.

Smiling in spite of himself, Cloud just ducked his head, a little embarrassed by the attention and pretended to be absorbed in his cards.

Tifa came back to the table, grinning, and daintily deposited the beer in front of Vincent. He thanked her and took a sip. Cloud and Tifa watched him expectantly. Too expectantly. "What?" he asked, suspicious.

"Nothing," they said in unison.

Tifa cleared her throat, realizing they nearly gave themselves away. Without a word, she dealt Vincent a hand. It was rather odd to watch Vincent study his cards, delicately held between the long tips of his gold gauntlet, while he casually sipped a beer with his other hand.

A loud crash and very colorful cursing interrupted them as they were all swapping out cards. Looking over his shoulder, Cloud watched at Yuffie tumbled down the last few steps, her legs somehow becoming tangled with one another. Cursing with truly impressive creativity, Yuffie managed to straighten everything out and the instant she was on her feet, dashed over to Vincent. She nearly knocked him out of his chair, she tackled him so hard.

"Ah found 'em Vinnie, got 'em, got 'em, got 'em!" She held up a pair of scissors she must've found in the desk upstairs.

"DO NOT TOUCH ME!" Vincent bellowed, struggling to keep her hand away from his hair.

"Oh don't be such a sissy-boy, won' hurt a bit. I promish."

"If you touch me with those, I will shoot you."

"Gosh, talk about like a virgin," she muttered.

"YUFFIE!" His tone was not be taken lightly, even by a drunk.

Yuffie crossed her arms in front of her chest and huffed, glaring at him. "You are too, too... too fussy mister, you know that!" She wagged a finger in his face, in danger of putting his eye out. "You're too stubborn *hic* for good. You look like this an' *hic* everyone'll think yer weird an' shun you!"

"Fine," he said coldly.

Yuffie flung the scissors on the table. "You're gonna be a virgin forEVER."

Cid laughed. Since he'd been in the middle of drinking from his glass of scotch at the same time, the results were quite spectacular. After blandly watching the pilot laugh, choke and try to mop off his chips with a cocktail napkin at the same time, Yuffie turned back to the gunman.

"You gonna get a makeover if you like it or... or..."

"Not," Tifa finished helpfully.

"Yeah!" She stomped off to another table and dragged a chair over by Vincent, grabbed her purse, and drew out some makeup.

"If you dare-"

Yuffie snapped her fingers under his nose imperiously. "You shaddup! Ish for you're own *hic* good, 'cause, 'cause, that'swhatfriends do is help each other! So man up and _deal!"_

Her speech was so vehement it took Vincent by surprise. He blinked at her and shut his mouth on what was sure to be a withering retort.

Mumbling viciously, Yuffie slammed more make-up out on the table. "Thanksh," she said as she took Vincent's drink from his hand, took a swig, and put it back in his grasp.

And so, the poker game continued. In no time, they were back down to three people, this time Cloud, Tifa, and Barret. Vincent sat in his chair, arms folded over his chest, smoldering with indignant rage as Yuffie dabbed blush on his cheeks with a teeny brush. She hummed merrily as she labored, blissfully unaware of the danger she was in.

Once again, Cloud found himself battling to stay focused on the cards. He tore his eyes away from Tifa as she slowly licked her lips, rolling the tip of her pink tongue over her full lips tantalizingly. Her strategy was working far too well. It'd been his turn to raise or fold for the last five minutes and he had no idea what cards he was even holding.

Ah screw it. "Fifty," he said and tossed in a chip. He had a game plan now - just ignore Tifa entirely. Don't look.

Against his will, his eyes were dragged back. Oh god, why did she have to eat those damn olives from her appletini like that? Why pull them off the toothpick with her tongue? Why did she have to suck the pimento out before eating the rest? He felt his pulse race, just by watching her leisurely pull an olive off the toothpick and slowly draw it into her mouth sexily. He didn't think it'd ever be possible to eat an olive in a sexy way, but she was managing it alright.

Once again, he tore his eyes away from her and she giggled. Damn, but she was good at getting him riled up! He heard the tink of the toothpick being dropped in the glass and he badly wanted to look up and watch her again.

No! Fight it, Strife, fight it! Don't look. Do not look! Be strong, for once in your life, _be strong!_

He could feel those dark eyes on him. Those beautiful eyes, that seemed to drink him in every time he looked in them... No, don't you even dare, Strife! That's how she's doing it, that's how she's getting in your head! Just ignore her. You can bluff through this, you can win this game - just _do not _look at her!

That was the plan, and he was determined to stick to it. He didn't even look up and study their faces, to try and detect the slightest hint of a tell. He just raised his bet and kept his eyes down. Already he felt better, more confident. Yes, he could win this. Just as long as he kept his eyes off her, he could win.

He felt one hundred percent confident in his success until he felt the lightest touch under the table. Oh shit. At last, he dared to glance up at Tifa. She was doing exactly as he was, pretending to be wholly absorbed in her cards. Only her smug little smirk betrayed the truth.

Under the table, her bare foot teased up his shin and her toes curled under his calf. She gently rubbed his leg with the back of her toes, nails just lightly grazing his leg.

Oh damn. He'd forgotten how good she was at this. Biting his lip, Cloud strove to ignore her, eyes blindly fixed on the his cards in horror, intensely aware of every move she made. Ever so teasingly, she flirted with her feet, then pulled away. He was actually sweating from the tension.

When her foot came back, his leg jerked at the unexpected touch and he saw her grin above his shield of cards. Feigning a stretch, Tifa slid down her chair, until her shoulders were just above the level of the table. As she did, her foot slid along the inside of his leg, stopping just short of... well, you know. It was torture.

"Cloud, it's your move," Barret said.

"What?" He looked up. How long had they been waiting for him to bet? "Uh, fifty."

"After a two hundred raise?"

Ah shit. He'd totally missed the last play. "Um, yeah."

The black man shrugged. "Fine by me."

She had no right to grin like that, he thought vehemently. There's children in the room, for crying out loud. The way she was acting, it was only because of alcohol and dumb luck that the others hadn't noticed already. Did the woman have no decency?

All thoughts of decency went flying out the window as her foot tickled the inside of his thigh. How could she do that AND play poker at the same time? Curse women and their multi-tasking! She was driving him nuts!

Just when Cloud thought he was going to lose control entirely, just as he was on the verge of folding, he was saved. Vincent roared in outrage and shoved away from the table, a persistent Yuffie clinging to him. She had the scissors in her hand again - her sneak-attack hair cut had been detected.

"Just lemme cut it! It'll look good, I promish!" she yelled.

"GET. OFF. ME." Vincent bellowed. He staggered away from the table, trying to shake her off. For an underweight drunk, she sure could latch on when she wanted to. She clung to his back, her ankles crossed at his waist, one arm looped under his and half pinning it behind his back, trying to get a clear shot at his long hair.

"Jush hold STILL!" she shouted.

Vincent ran into Cid, who was laughing uproariously, and his tenuous image of sobriety was shattered when he fell off the chair. Whoops of drawling laughter rang from underneath the table as Cid laughed helplessly.

At least one strand of fine black hair landed on the floor - Yuffie had managed to get in one snip at least. The clip-on earrings that Yuffie had produced and put on his ears slapped his cheeks as he shook his head violently, trying to wrench the tuft of his hair from her hand. Reeve and Barret and the kids were laughing like lunatics.

"Stop fighting me, dammit!"

"I raise two hundred!" Tifa called over the din.

Barret could only shake his head and laugh, motioning that he folded.

"Call," Cloud said. He ducked his head to avoid a wayward swing of Vincent's arm as he staggered around, trying to remove the ninja leeched to his back.

Smirking, Tifa put her cards down. Ah damn. He had a straight, but her cards beat his. Tifa grinned as she hauled in her stash.

Just as she'd brought the chips halfway to her, Vincent fell on the table, flipping it over. Cards and chips sprayed everywhere.

"Fifty-two pick up!" Reeve cheered, clapping.

Vincent fell to the floor, Yuffie riding him all the way down like a regal sultan atop an elephant. She'd managed to pin his right arm to his side with one leg and deftly wedged a foot under his left armpit, preventing him from bending it backward. He couldn't get any leverage to stand or roll over. Pressing his face to floor with one hand, Yuffie when to work. The scissors snipped crazily. Hair went flying. The whole time Vincent bellowed dire threats while Yuffie soothingly reassured him that his new haircut would look drop-dead _cute_.

Cloud watched the hysterics mildly. There'd be no poker game after this. Damn. He'd been looking forward to actually _winning_ a game this time around. Not only had he lost every time, but he'd hemmoraged chips like he was a hemophiliac in a third-world blood donation center run by cannibals. Though the chips were fake, and they played for fun, not money, Cloud felt like a very poor man indeed.

His woeful thoughts were interrupted when Tifa gracefully sat on his lap, primly crossing her legs as she did so. Cloud smiled at her, which she returned as she laced her hands behind his neck. He put one arm around her waist and the other hand on the generous amount of bare thigh she put on display for him. Then she kissed him.

Oh damn, that was good. He'd been waiting for this all night. He kissed her eagerly, totally oblivious to the raunchy comments of his friends, utterly deaf to the kids' wicked giggling. After all the torture she put him through tonight, he _deserved _this. He'd amassed quite an amount of liberty after enduring her teasing the whole night and now he was cashing in.

Their interlude was briefly interrupted when something struck his chair. Breaking apart, they both looked down. Yuffie had torn away the white cloth Vincent normally had wrapped around his forehead and was interrogating him at high speed on the kinds of product he used, the last time he got it cut, and whether or not he brushed his hair every day. Vincent had managed to crawl forward a little by means of flexing his feet, but was utterly blind since Yuffie still held his face against the floor. His head striking the chair leg was what had interrupted them.

Cloud pushed the chair out of the way and Vincent continued his inching progress by pushing on the floor with his toes. The two passed them by as the gunslinger strove onward, desperately seeking escape. It bore a vague and slightly absurd resemblance to a parade float going by at a stately pace.

Now that they were out of the way, Cloud and Tifa turned their attention back to each other once again. Cloud greedily savored each meeting, reveling in the fact that - out of all the men in the world - only _he_ could enjoy the full range and pleasures of her talented tongue.

A loud _thump_ distracted them for a second. Vincent had run head-first into the bar and was trying to get some leverage on the smooth surface to lift himself up. A trail of hair clippings marked his passage along the floor.

"Good thing I swept earlier," Tifa murmured.

Cloud couldn't help himself. He started laughing. True, hearty peals of laughter burst from him and the others laughed at the drunk ninja, the pissed-off gunman and the novelty that Cloud was truly laughing out loud. He laughed and kissed Tifa and laughed some more and kissed her some more.

He was the richest man in the world.


End file.
